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Hebrew Studies 35 (1994) 151 Reviews throughout the story. and...the reader encounters a number of serious instances of disobedience to the commandments of Moses. Each of these instances threatens Israel's fulfillment of the promises articulated at the beginning of the book.... The story oscillates between obedience and disobedience , and in the process creates a sense of ambiguity and tension about the fulfillment of the promise" (p. 93). Hawk weaves the motifs of Conquest and Compromise (chap. 3). Obedience and Disobedience (chap. 4), and Integrity and Fragmentation (chap. 5) into his overall pattern of anticipated closure and unanticipated disruption very effectively. He has made a good case for viewing the book of Joshua as a coherent literary work whose stories can. when sensitively read. be seen to coalesce into a viable literary piece. In some cases his interpretation of a particular unit of tradition seems a bit strained. and his zeal to find an encompassing structure for the book may lead him at times to present an interpretation of a particular unit that is not one with which most scholars would concur. Nevertheless. this is a fine. effectively written study. which opens new avenues for understanding the book of Joshua. Alan J. Hauser Appalachian State University Boone. N.C. 28608 STUDIES IN OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY: HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY IMAGES OF GOD AND GOD'S PEOPLE. Robert L. Hubbard Jr.• Robert K. Johnston, and Robert P. Meyer. eds. Pp. 333. Dallas: Word Publishing. 1992. Old Testament theology remains in crisis. It is a discipline in search of a methodology and identity (Gerhard Hasel. Old Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate, 4th ed.• 1991). Creating an Old Testament theology remains difficult in light of the complexity of its documents. the lack of a comprehensive center for organizing its theology, disagreement over whether the task is a descriptive or normative one. and confusion on how to relate Old Testament theology to the New Testament. Fuller faculty and friends enter this discussion with the present volume. It is a collection of essays honoring David Allan Hubbard's twenty-nine years as president of Fuller Theological Seminary and his work in Old Testament theology. Hebrew Studies 35 (1994) 152 Reviews Authors of some of the articles discuss Christian evangelical issues unapologetically . Nevertheless, the scope of the articles is broad enough that readers who do not share the Christian perspective can profit from the discussions of Old Testament theology. Essays are organized around the "Images of Yahweh," "Images of Israel,,' and "Images for Today." Discussions of these images in Section 2 follow the Hebrew canon: Torah, Prophets and Writings. Two essays in Section 3 on "The Old Testament and the World" conclude the volume. The book begins with a preface and four other personal tributes to David A. Hubbard, such as normally appear in a Festschrift. Section 1 discusses "Methodology." The most instructive of the three articles remains the one by Robert Hubbard on "Doing Old Testament Theology Today." He summarizes problems and solutions which the discipline raises. He provides some guidelines, but primarily sets the stage for the remainder of the articles. The chapter on proclamation by Elizabeth Achtemeier surprises the reader, as she discusses the making of a biblical sermon. That article does not seem to fit this volume until the reader recognizes that the Festschrift stresses that biblical theology tells what the Bible means, not just what it meant. Section 2 comprises most of the volume. These articles analyze the images of God and God's people in "The Old Testament." This review will focus on four of the articles. David Clines suggests that images of God can come out of a dialectical reading of the Pentateuch as a novel. He points out the need to harmonize the God who is a character in the novel with the "true God" about which one can theologize, giving examples of dialectical readings from the Pentateuch and then including some unifying readings. His article reads against the grain of the "central tradition of biblical scholarship" and concludes with themes that scholars use to point to the "real God." Clines' article notes the challenge of utilizing narrative studies for theology. John D. W. Watts...

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